Alpha's Cursed Mate

chapter 1

Evie Frost stared at herself in the mirror, barely recognizing the woman in the ice-blue wedding dress. Outside her window, the town of Silverpine sparkled with Christmas lights and fresh snow. People laughed and sang as they prepared for tonight's Winter Solstice Ball. Everyone loved this time of year.

Everyone except Evie.

"Hold still," Mara said, setting the silver snowflake pins in Evie's long silver-blonde hair. "The bride must look perfect." Bride. The word felt wrong in Evie's mind. This wedding wasn't about love. Not anymore.

"There," Mara stepped back. "Your mother would be proud."

Evie's throat tightened. She remembered little of her parents—just bits and pieces. Playing in the snow. Her mother's laugh. Her father's strong hands lifting her high in the air.

And then the screams. The fire. The smell of blood in the snow.

"Ten years is a long time to miss someone," Mara said softly, as if reading her thoughts.

Evie touched the metal locket at her throat—the only thing she had left from her family. "Eighteen years," she corrected. "I was ten when it happened."

Mara squeezed her shoulder. "Are you sure about this, Evie? Marrying Adrian Blackwood is..."

"Necessary," Evie finished. She didn't say more. She couldn't tell Mara the whole truth—that she was marrying into the pack that had killed her family. The pack she planned to destroy from the inside.

Three years. She had spent three years pretending to love Adrian. Three years of smiling at the man whose father had ordered her family's deaths. Three years of planning payback while acting like the perfect, sweet bride-to-be.

Tonight, it would all be worth it.

"The bells will ring soon," Mara said. "I'll check if your flowers have arrived."

When Mara left, Evie opened her locket. Inside was a tiny, frozen teardrop—or at least, that's what it looked like. Only Evie knew its true power.

"I'm doing this for you," she whispered to the faces she could barely remember. "For all of you."

A knock at the door made her snap the box shut. "Come in," she called.

It wasn't Mara who entered, but Lila Hart—a beautiful woman with bright red hair and a sweet smile that never reached her eyes. Evie had never liked Adrian's cousin, but she forced a smile anyway.

"Lila. What a surprise."

"I wanted to see the bride before the big moment." Lila walked around Evie, studying her dress. "You look... nice."

"Thank you," Evie said, though the words felt like tiny knives.

Lila leaned closer, her voice falling to a whisper. "Enjoy your moment, Evie. It won't last."

Before Evie could ask what she meant, Lila was gone, leaving behind only the smell of roses and something else—something like fear.

Outside, the bells began to ring, calling everyone to the Great Hall. Evie took a deep breath. This was it. The beginning of her real plan.

Mara returned, her face pale. "Evie, there's—"

"No time," Evie said, taking up her bouquet of white winter roses. "They're calling for the bride."

The walk to the Great Hall seemed to take forever. People lined the snowy path, throwing silver petals and calling wishes. Evie kept her face calm, though her heart raced. Every step brought her closer to her goal.

The Great Hall of Silverpine was beautiful tonight. Hundreds of lights floated in the air. Evergreen branches and silver bells hung from the roof. The three groups who shared the town—humans, werewolves, and the mysterious Marked—all gathered together, putting aside their differences for this one night.

But something was wrong. The crowd was talking. And Adrian wasn't waiting at the altar.

Instead, Adrian's second-in-command stood there, his face cold as ice.

"The wedding," he stated in a loud voice, "is canceled."

The crowd gasped. Evie froze in place, her carefully built mask breaking.

"Alpha Blackwood has been called away on urgent matters," the man continued. "His true mate, Lila Hart, has fallen gravely ill with his unborn child."

The words hit Evie like punches. True mate? Unborn child? This wasn't part of her plan. The people around her whispered and stared. Some looked sorry for her. Others barely hid their smiles.

"He asks that you vacate pack lands by morning," the messenger said. "Your presence would be... inappropriate given the circumstances."

Humiliation burned through Evie, hot and painful. Three years of planning, destroyed in seconds. She had been played—fooled by the very man she'd planned to use.

Without a word, she turned and ran. Out of the Great Hall. Past the shocked faces. Into the cold winter night.

Snow fell harder now, stinging her face as she ran. She didn't know where she was going. Away. Just away from the whispers and stares. Away from her broken plan.

The fancy shoes Mara had given her broke in the deep snow. Evie kicked them off and kept running, her bare feet numb with cold. Her wedding dress caught on branches, tearing like her dreams.

She ran until her lungs burned and her legs gave out. Dropping to her knees in a small opening, Evie finally let the tears come. They froze on her face almost instantly.

"Stupid," she whispered to herself. "So stupid to think it would be easy."

Night fell fully. The temperature dropped until even Evie, who had never minded the cold, started to shiver. She should go back to town. Find Mara. Make a new plan.

But the thought of facing those people again made her stomach turn. She would rather freeze.

As if granted her wish, the wind picked up, driving icy snow around her in circles. Evie hugged herself, her wedding dress giving little protection. Her view blurred. Her thoughts slowed.

"Maybe this is better," she thought as darkness crept in from the edges of her mind. "Maybe I'll see them again..."

A faraway howl cut through the wind. Then another, closer. Wolves? Or werewolves? Evie tried to stand but couldn't. The cold had taken her strength.

Footsteps crunched in the snow behind her. Heavy. Steady. Not human.

With the last of her strength, Evie turned to face whatever was coming.

A tall figure stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes glowing orange in the darkness. Not human. Not fully wolf. Something more.

As awareness slipped away, Evie heard a deep voice whisper: "Found you at last, little frost-heart."

Strong arms lifted her frozen body. Through blurry eyes, she saw a man's face—handsome, with dark hair streaked with silver and a jagged scar down one cheek. The scar glowed slightly blue, pulsing like a heartbeat.

"Don't worry," he said, though his words seemed to come from far away. "I've got you."

As darkness claimed her fully, Evie's locket fell open against the stranger's chest. Inside, the frozen teardrop began to glow with silver-blue light, showing words etched in ancient script: When frost and storm unite, the shadow falls.

The stranger looked at the words, his face shifting from surprise to something like hope—and determination.

"So it's true," he whispered, clutching Evie closer as he carried her through the storm. "You're the one."

Behind them, hidden in the swirling snow, a figure watched with mismatched eyes—one brown, one pale blue. The figure leaned on a silver cane topped with a wolf's head, a small smile playing on his educated face.

"And so it begins," Marcus Shadowvale murmured to himself. "After all these centuries."

He tapped his cane once on the snowy ground. The storm increased, covering the tracks of both the rescuer and his precious burden.

Some games needed patience. And this one had been ages in the making